from strawberry lemonade to coconut
juice to Thai iced tea-
from Irish jigs to Haitian rhythms
to Kung Fu-
It was at the Festival of Nations.
Today, people from different
cultures around the world came together at Tower Grove Park to share the music
and flavors of their home with the rest of St. Louis.
My afternoon started with a
beautiful walk through Tower Grove Park. On the path through the park,
numerous families walked with me, and I got my first impression of the
diversity that the festival attracted – an Indian family passed me by as I was
taking pictures of the trees, an African family sat on the bench while the
father fanned his young daughter, and a gaggle of American teenagers chattered
on their cell phones trying to locate another one of their friends.
As I got closer to the festival,
the crowd of people on the path with me got denser. Music wafted through the trees, not the jazz
and blues I have become accustomed to here in St. Louis, but the syncopated rhythms
of Caribbean. The air smelled rich with
curry, but every time the breeze changed it was a different curry.
To my great delight, I ran into one
of my friends. (Just how cool is it that
I know enough people in my new hometown that I can run into them in random
situations?) We decided to explore the
fair together and started with the food row.
After walking up and down the row checking out each of the booths, we
stopped at the Jamaican booth for jerked chicken and rum cake. The food was delicious; apparently the
word had gotten around because it had one of the longest lines of any of the
booths.
We took our food over to one of the
pavilions and watched a band from Haiti while we ate. In a bizarre aside, a guy who was sharing our picnic table with turned to us and gave his testimony. (Right on, Brother! Amen! Can I finish my rum cake now?) I’m still not sure if he was in the exact
wrong place or the exact right place for his mission today; the crowd
represented just as diverse a faith base as the vendors.
After lunch, we walked around to
the different vendors and checked out the silver jewelry from Mexico, purses
and scarves from Ecuador, the nested dolls from Russia, and carved figurines
from various African nations. Little
girls were running around the festival with parasols from China, and someone
was selling whistles which added to the cacophony.
Throughout the festival stages were
set-up and featured different performers such as a troupe of young women
playing taiko drums and a group of kids doing Irish jigs. We saw one gal dressed in a sequined
dress who from her hair style I would bet money was demoing South American
dance (tango, rumba, cha-cha? I didn’t get to see her perform).
In all, it was an exciting way to
spend the afternoon, not to mention the serendipity of a friend to share it with. So many different
people, from all walks of life were out to enjoy the afternoon, eat some food,
and listen to the music.
You are living a wonderful life. I am so happy for you.
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